Blood Bonds
by Kessie-Louise
Summary: Mina had always seen her abilities as an unwilling way to hurt others. Lloyd also has these abilities due to an inevitable family history. When the two extremes meet, can it destroy the world as we know it? Inspiration from Carrie, Frozen, a dream I had May 2014, Kingdom Hearts, and a small handful of others. AU of headcanon. Reviews welcomed!
1. Mina

**Part One**

* * *

Kai held the little bundle in his arms as if it was as fragile as glass. She wasn't his, but he knew it was his duty to take care of her now. The little girl looked at him curiously as if she was deciding if he was the one she wanted to take care of him. She smiled at him, and Kai knew for sure that she really was his responsibility now.

Her name, which came to him in a sudden idea, was Mina.

. . .

Nya couldn't believe what she was seeing. The five year old was making a crayon balance in the air like it was nothing. And the child was _laughing_ at it. It wouldn't have been so bad, but Kai was shrugging it off like Nya was the one going insane!

"I'm sure you were just seeing things." Kai told her once.

"You're not listening to me!" Nya told him, growing more and more frustrated as they talked.

"Of course I am." Kai said to her with a mildly straight face. "I'm just choosing to ignore you."

"But you know I'm right, then?" Nya then asked him. To this, he had no answer.

. . .

"Witch!" one of the kids on the playground shouted at her.

"No... I just..." she started to say in protest, but nothing could make up for what she had just done. A kid was unconscious a few feet away, knocked by the pure lightning bolts that came out of her hand only moments before. She couldn't explain it, all she knew was that she was in trouble. Deep, deep trouble. More of her classmates surrounded her and began to chant a word she soon would hate very, very much.

Witch... Witch... Witch... Witch...

She shut her eyes and covered her ears. She only wanted them to stop. If only something loud enough, like... like an earthquake, would silence them... The earth began to quake, as if trembling out of her thoughts and into the mortal plane. When she opened her eyes again, she wished she had never opened them.

. . .

They had been walking in the park for hours, and yet, Kai still wouldn't let Mina see what was in that brown paper bag he had brought with him.

"Patience is virtue." he reminded her every time she asked.

"Right..." she said once with oozing sarcasm. "_I'm_ the one that's impatient."

Kai let out a light chuckle and they kept walking. Eventually, the found a spot to rest and relaxed for awhile.

"Today's the day." Kai said, almost to himself, rather satisfied but distant. She already knew a part of what he was talking about, but was still rather curious.

"What's going to happen today?" Mina asked.

"After this, likely a whole lot of nothing." Kai responded. Mina looked at him with a confused look, and he quickly noticed this. "But something happened today years ago that I wouldn't trade back for the world."

"And what was that?" Mina asked, getting more curious and becoming a bit disgusted.

"I found you." he told her simply.

"Oh." she let out in an odd sense of disappointment. Kai chuckled a little and pulled something out of the brown paper bag he had brought with him. Mina peered over curiously, dying to know what Kai had decided to bring this far out. It was a small cupcake with a single (partially melted) candle on it. Kai then snapped his fingers and a small pillar of fire lingered at the tip of his finger, like his finger had been a lighter. Carefully, he lit the tiny wick on the candle and passed the cupcake to Mina.

"Make a wish." he told her. Thinking of something good, Mina squint her eyes as tight as she could then blew the candle out. Mina opened her eyes to see that the candle had been frozen over with ice. Quickly, as seeing Kai was getting something else out of the brown bag, Mina picked off the candle and chucked it as far as she could so he didn't have to see what she had done. When he turned around again, Mina had plastered a fake smile to show that nothing was wrong.

"I also have this for you." he told her, obviously ignoring her forced expression, and handed her a small card.

"A business card?" she asked, turning the card over then looking at the front again.

On one side it read 'Wu Tea' and listed the business's hours and address. The other side read 'Golden Special' in a hastily written chicken scratch.

"I can't pretend that what happens isn't real." Kai then started to say, already regretting what he was saying. Mina looked at him in near horror. "But this... if you ever wanted to know, Wu has the answer."

Mina looked at the business card. The earth was shaking, the grass burned then froze over, and a streak of lightning hit a nearby tree but Kai remained where he was, perfectly hiding how terrified he really was.


	2. Lloyd

Lloyd had decided to shut himself out of the world when he knew what he was capable of. Ignorance had not been bliss, it only made the condition worse.

Jay was the only one Lloyd could feel he could trust to tell him what was going on in the outside world. And for the most part, it was boring. Or at least, the way Jay would try to explain things was. It didn't help when the lightning wielder talked as fast as... well... lightning.

"Is there anything new?" Lloyd asked today as Jay came through Lloyd's door. His voice had sounded more desperate than what he appreciated... or realized.

"I didn't think so." Jay told him. "Didn't really do much today either; just repaired a motorcycle with jet skis and parachute. Which reminds me, why don't you go out and look for yourself? Doesn't it get boring in here?"

Lloyd's eyes grew wide with horror. Little lightning bolts flickered between his fingers in anxiety and ice started to grow from where he stood. Jay took a step back.

"Okay, okay! I didn't say you were going out there now!" Jay cried out in near terror. Slowly, the ice receded and Lloyd looked sullen and pale.

"Now you know why I stay here." Lloyd said in a small voice. "I don't care whether I'm eighteen, thirty-six, sixty-three, or eighty-one; I'm not leaving."

"I'll never ask again..." Jay agreed, beginning to leave the room. Lloyd just stared as his friend left, regret washing over him faster than a flooded river flowing downstream.

. . .

Lloyd had to hand it to Jay, he did know that Lloyd got bored rather easily. But going outside was a risk Lloyd wasn't willing to take any time soon for anything. For the most part, leaving him alone only allowed him to dwell on the unfortunate lineage his family had. And worst of all; it was a part of all known history.

_The world as they knew it was divided into five equal sections; The desert was inhabited by the Skulkin, the swamps were inhabited by the Serpentine, the forests were inhabited by the Stone Warriors of ancient lore, and the Land of Shadows were inhabited by Nindroids who wanted independence. But Ninjago City was were the humans lived, and it was as special as the humans themselves._

_The humans that occupied Ninjago City (much like the lands surrounding) were divided into seperate categories as well. There were humans that could wield only one elemental power as follows; fire, lightning, ice, and earth. And there were humans that could not wield any elemental power, in common days they were referred to as 'Norms.' But there was a special family in Ninjago City that could wield all the elemental powers at once, and this power passed from father to daughter and mother to son. The original patriarch of this family did not have any daughters, so the power was not passed into that generation. But the patriarch's grandson had these powers. These powers nearly destroyed Ninjago City, and the grandson disappeared from normal and prying eyes. Where has the lineage gone? No one knows, but one thing is for sure; it will never enter Ninjago again._

Lloyd sneered in disdain as the words of the horrible history of his family played over in his head. Thankfully, there was no more in his family. Thankfully, Ninjago would never have to see another human in power with all four elements. Thankfully and hopefully, no one would ever have to live in fear of the power they can't control.

But that was before Lloyd met Mina.


	3. Potential

At some point in her childhood, Mina understood that Kai didn't really love her like his own child. He tried to, taking her side many times when others would have left her on the street. But she knew it was only skin deep. This was why, after she left a note of her departure, that she had very little regret of just leaving him. Sadness, yes, but no regret.

Wu's Tea was located in the near center of Ninjago City, and not very well advertized either. Mina nearly missed the entrance at first walk by. When she entered, a little bell above the door tingled to let whoever working to know that she was entering. Mina looked around. The only patron was an old man with a long white beard who didn't bother to look up at her arrival.

"You look like you've traveled a long way." the patron said without looking up at her. Mina stared at him. The old patron finished his tea then started to stand up. He used a cane to walk over to where Mina stood.

"The sign says the shop is closed." the old man told her rather impatiently.

"But the door was unlocked." Mina pointed out.

"You wouldn't have known that if you had read the sign." the old man responded. For a minute, Mina wasn't sure how to respond to this. The man looked over Mina.

"Who are you?" he asked. "And why do you have the air of the Golden Dragon?"

"Who are you?" Mina echoed. "And why do you think you have the right to boss me around?"

"This is my shop." the man simply told her, staring her down. Mina did not move, so the man continued. "Why does the life of the Golden Dragon exist in your blood?"

"If I knew what that was, I'd tell you to the best of my knowledge." Mina told him.

"Are you not familiar with Ninago's history?" the man asked.

"I can spit it back out the way the teachers want me to." the girl retorted, folding her arms.

"Right..." the man said with a sense of bitterness. He started to turn away and walk toward the backrooms. "Follow me."

Warily, Mina followed behind the man.

"My name is Mina." she said as he shut the door of the backroom behind them.

"Wu." he told her quite short and simply that it took her a moment to realize that he had told her his name.

. . .

Lloyd stood in the center of the room with his palm outstretched toward the window. He imagined a single bolt of lightning coming out of the palm of his hand and causing the window to crack a bit on impact. It almost worked, but he quickly began to think of all the ways this practice could go horribly wrong and it did backfire. Instead of a lightning bolt, something more akin to a spontaneous combustion burst from Lloyd's head and sent him flying to the opposite side of the room. For a moment, Lloyd had gone into a daze, but that was also when he snapped.

Lloyd regained his footing and his mind shut out his sight as he went into a rage. After five minutes, Lloyd slowly became calm as a sudden rush of fear came over him. Something on fire was letting out a horrible smell, the walls looked as if claws have been dug deep into them from pure lightning bolts, the pictures had been knocked out of place from an earthquake, and the poor flower vase with a little water on the bottom had been frozen solid. As he looked back in horror of what he had done, thoughts of injuring himself was quenched by one near hopeful thought; no one else in the world had powers like this and never would.

. . .

"What is this room?" Mina asked Wu when he showed her an empty and rather large room. There was nothing on the wall, not even a window.

"This is where you discover your potential."

"And how do I do that?"

Wu shrugged.

"Get a catchy tune in your head and let it out through your abilities."

"Right." Mina muttered sarcastically. "Because music always helps let out our feelings and all that."

Wu said nothing, and gestured her to do whatever it was she was going to do. Mina rolled her eyes a little then concentrated. She thought of a song with drums, undertoned with a good bass and well disguised piano. The song made itself well known in her mind, and the abilities of her powers made themselves well known to the outside world. It was amazing. She made everything to the beat, even going so far as to enjoying herself as she did so. Wu did not look as impressed though, but at this point, she didn't care for what he thought. Later on, as the song ended in her mind, Mina made a signal to Wu that she too was done.

"Not bad." he told her. "Not bad at all. But you still have much to learn... and I am not the one to teach them."

Mina groaned.

"You're kidding me!"

"I do, however, know someone who could help you though." Wu added. "If you want of course."

"What makes you think I've found what I needed here when you've helped me do nothing?" Mina asked. "I want to know why I have these... powers, maybe even find a way to prevent them. I'm not stopping here, I've only just begun."

Wu smiled at her.

"That's what I wanted to hear." he told her, happily and rather proud.


	4. The Family of Nindroids

As Wu escorted Mina further and further out of Ninjago City, she wondered how much he really knew about who she was. She wondered if he knew if he really understood who she was.

"Where are we going?" Mina asked several hours into their journey. They had taken the walking route toward the Land of Shadows.

"Do you not know the world's geography?" Wu asked her without turning around.

"I do." Mina scoffed. "It's one of the few things in school I can spit back out to the teacher."

"Then don't ask questions you already know the answer to," Wu told her, "It isn't polite."

Mina made a face to unconsciously illustrate what she had thought of that, but did not voice an opinion. Wu said nothing against it either, already knowing she was going to make such a face at him. He did have an idea of who she was, but he just wanted to be sure in any case. And there was only one being in the world that could give a confirmed judgement.

The sky had darkened to bring in night time when Wu and Mina had come to a small cottage on the boarder of the Land of Darkness and Ninjago City. It was a very simple cottage that had been very well made. Although, she had to admit, Mina didn't expect it to have windows going by how simple it had been. She was just happy there was a door, to be honest.

Wu had been the one to knock on the door. A girl around Mina's height answered with a wide and bright smile on her face.

"Visitors!" the girl said excitedly.

"Hello Alice." Wu said calmly to the girl. "Is Zane home?"

"Yes, would you like me to find him?"

"If you will, that would be wonderful."

"Would you like to come inside too?" the overexcited girl then asked.

"That would also be wonderful." Wu agreed. So, without much further instruction, the girl let Wu and Mina into the house, all the while staring at Mina with great interest. The girl let the two sit on a couch and left them alone.

"So..." Mina started to say, "That girl..."

"Alice." Wu said.

"Yeah, her, um... is there something... odd about her to you?"

"I know many odd things," Wu said, almost talking to himself, "You happen to be one of them. You're going to have to be more specific."

Mina opened her mouth to give a clarification, but the girl was back with a man that looked enough like her for them to possibly be related.

"Sensei." the man said, almost genuinely surprised. "I was not expecting you to come today."

"I understand this Zane, but this is rather important." Wu said. "I want you to meet Mina, and please, tell me, does she remind you of anyone?"

The man looked at Mina, and after a moment of processing, he jumped back in apparent realization.

"Impossible." the man said. "You are... but it would have been impossible..."

He stepped closer to Mina.

"My name is Zane." he told her. "You met Alice not long ago, I adopted her because she is like myself."

"How?" Mina asked.

"We are both androids. We were both created free and without a real purpose in life. So we bound together, almost like a family."

"Are there any others like you?" Mina then asked curiously.

"There is another," Zane agreed, "Who is not bound by the Three Laws like a human is. Her name is P.I.X.A.L., but she is resting."

Mina looked at him like he was insane. So he continued.

"You, Mina, have a DNA signature very similar to one born in the family of the Golden Dragon."

"And what about it?" she asked, not meaning to sound as snarkie and rude as she did.

"The family of the Golden Dragon has a power that only they can control," Zane explained. "Their power is passed from male to female to male to female and over again. The power is hard to control if one does not know how to wield it, so it is often the target of unwanted attention."

"How do they learn to control it?" Mina asked, not aware that ice was forming under her feet, keeping her attached to the spot she was standing.

"Like almost everything else in fairy tale lore; with an introduction to true love." Zane told her quite simply. "The presence of true love sets off a pheromone that helps the wielder channel their powers willingly. It is a bit cliched, and I admit I could go on more about the matter, but I'm afraid it would get lost in translation. If you know what I mean."

"I'm trying to." Mina told him. "But how do you define true love?"

"Putting someone's needs before your own." Wu told her. "It is common between mothers and their children, but it can be found elsewhere as well."

"Where?" Mina asked, realizing she was desperate to know the answer.

"Have you ever put your life in danger of saving someone else's?" Wu asked her.

"No." she said, rather quickly, finding the answer rather obvious. She was only sixteen after all.

"Has anyone ever put their life in danger of saving yours?" Wu then asked her. "Or, for the most part, defend and forgive you when you were fully guilty of something?"

This answer did take some thinking. Suddenly, the answer hit her like a ton of bricks. Kai. Kai loved her. It didn't matter how terrified he was of her, he still loved her at the end of the day. He could have given her up at any time when he had gotten so worried that she may murder them all in their sleep. He had always been there for her, even when she wanted to be left alone to rage. Quickly, Mina started to dart toward the door.

"Where are you going?" Wu and Zane asked at the same time.

"To apologize!" Mina shouted from over her shoulder.


	5. Hologram Messaging

The falcon was not a common sight in Lloyd's world of seclusion. When it was though, it usually meant something needed his attention, like, yesterday.

Lloyd made a path for the falcon so it could rest before giving him a message. One of the falcon's eyes flickered for a brief second, then a hologram projection radiated from the eye. It was Zane, looking near gravely concerned.

"What's wrong?" Lloyd asked, lights beginning to flicker in the room like the power was about to go out.

"I just met someone today that reminded me of you." Zane told Lloyd. Relieved to some extend that the message wasn't serious, Lloyd laughed.

"Well, don't I feel special." Lloyd said happily. "You had to send me air mail just to tell me that?"

"She had trouble controlling her powers like you do." Zane told him, still serious. Lloyd's happy demeanor vanished in an instant.

"What powers?" he asked, his face quickly draining of color.

"I believe I do not need to tell you what powers." Zane told Lloyd. "All I would like to know is how she exists. I would rather not think about it because it shuts down certain functions, but it still interests me. What have you been doing?"

Lloyd did not answer, not exactly knowing how to answer. Somewhere near him, a light bulb exploded but Lloyd did not move.

"When you figure it out then," Zane then told him, "Let the rest of us know."

And with that, the hologram of Zane flickered out, leaving the falcon staring at Lloyd for further instruction.

Lloyd's mind was sent reeling with what Zane had told him. There was another? There couldn't be... he never...

Emily.

The name instantly hit his mind like a slap in the back of the head. Emily was a friend seventeen years back, before he decided to lock himself away. It was because of her he decided to lock himself away. One day, someone kidnapped her in order to gain the power his family possessed. He helped her, and then accidentally hurt her with his powers. The poor girl had been hurt emotionally from being kidnapped, now she was physically hurt and even more damaged inside. No matter what he said to her, no matter what he tried to help her with, she was no longer his friend. But they never... did they?

The more Lloyd thought about it, the more it made him feel horrible.

Finally, Lloyd decided what he was going to do. He turned to the falcon.

"Find the girl Zane was talking about." he told the mechanical bird. "And lead her here."

The bird gave a notion of a nod and flew away. As he watched the falcon fly away, Lloyd was hit with a realization that made him feel even more terrible; he didn't like being secluded, it only made the world more lonely.

. . .

"But how do you know its true love?" Kai asked the teenaged girl, quite confused that she thought of something so... odd.

"Because you didn't give me up when others would have." she told him, as if it were as simple as why the grass was green.

"Just 'cause I cared for you, it doesn't make it true love." Kai told her. At this point, Mina was beginning to feel frustrated. She took a deep breath in and allowed herself to relax. So far, her abilities haven't backfired or destroy anything yet. She took this as a sign that it was true love, but she had no idea of how to tell Kai this revelation yet. Kai could sense this frustration and gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

"In my opinion kid," he then said, "True love needs to be mutual to be true love."

"But..." Mina started to say, but was interrupted by Kai continuing his statement.

"Someone doesn't change their whole being just to prove true love exists between the one they like. That's what makes true love special; it doesn't and can't change."

Mina opened her mouth to retort, but a bird came in through the window in an abrupt manner. Both Mina and Kai jumped back in surprise at the bird's entrance.

"A crow!" Mina shouted before thinking about it.

"No, it's a falcon." Kai said calmly, slowly going toward the bird. "And it's friendly."

"How'd you figure?" Mina asked as Kai gently stroked the bird. In a response, one of the bird's eyes flickered and a hologram of a twenty or thirty something man appeared before Mina and Kai.

"Who's that?" Mina asked Kai, referring to the hologram.  
"Lloyd." Kai said, hints of mixed scorn and sadness peppered his voice. "And if theories line up, your father."

"Really?" Mina asked. "He looks kind of cute..."

"So were you." Kai smirked a little. "Still are when you're talking in your sleep."

Mina looked at Kai and gave him a sarcastic laugh. The hologram, meanwhile, looked around the room until it spotted Mina.

"You." the hologram said loud enough like a normal human voice. Mina stopped teasing Kai and looked at the hologram.

"Are you the one with the power of the Golden Dragon?" the hologram Lloyd asked her.

"Those are the hints I've been receiving recently." Mina agreed, to some extent.

For a moment, the hologram Lloyd took in Mina's appearance.

"Wow..." he said, "You even look like..." But whatever thoughts Lloyd had were quickly scratched. Mina raised an eyebrow.

"I want to meet you." Lloyd said. "Falcon here will show you the way."

"Can I bring Kai?" Mina asked. "He is my legal guardian and all."

Hologram Lloyd looked as if something disgusted him.

"Of course." he said, although it was obvious that he felt opposite. "I will see you soon."

With that, the hologram flickered and faded out. Mina looked at Kai with a mischievous smile.

"This will only prove my point." Kai told her.

"Not if it proves mine first!" Mina said gleefully.


	6. Proof of Love

Moving toward the forest, Kai had decided that the two take a break on their way to Lloyd. This gave Mina and opportunity to show Kai that they did share true love. It took a lot of hard work, but she was able to make a shard of ice into a little heart.

"How long did it take you?" Kai mused, looking at the heart with amusement.

"Awhile." Mina told him, not quite sure how long it did take her to do it.

"Did you have to think to be able to do that?" Kai then asked.

"Yeah." Mina agreed as if it were obvious.

"Then it's not true love." Kai told her.

"Why not?" she asked him, rather insulted.

"You don't think in true love, kid. It just... happens." he told her. Mina took all it had in her not to scream at him. She looked at her ice heart and handed it to him.

"A dead animal brought by a dog is still a gift." she said to him. "Keep it. Or toss it in the fire. I really don't care what you do with it right now."

"Thank you." Kai told her. Mina was so angry she didn't say a word back... and left burn marks in the grass as she walked away.

. . .

The two walked for two days before coming to a rather large and tower-like home. Mina looked up at it in awe and fear.

"You alright kid?" Kai asked, noticing her expression.

"Yes!" Mina said, instantly snapping out of it. "Why do you care?"

"Because I love you." Kai told her bluntly. "Granted, not the way you want me to love you, but I do love you."

Mina looked at the ground, disappointed and slightly upset.

"You do understand though, don't you?" Kai then asked her.

"I guess so." Mina sighed, bringing out her age a little more than what she intended.

"I'll promise you this," Kai then told her, "I almost bet that when we see Lloyd, when you see Lloyd for the first time in person, you will know what true love is."

Mina looked at him.

"Like if it proves _my_ point?" she asked him.

"Sure." Kai agreed, rolling his eyes. "But I'm just saying..."

It was at this point, Mina stopped listening to him.

The two continued toward the home and Mina was unwillingly volunteered to knock, since she was the one that was invited. For a moment, she hesitated. Her fist just hovered in the air as if it was meant to knock on the air instead of the door.

"Do you not know how to knock, kid?" Kai asked, smirking a little at her. It took all it had in her not to turn around and glare at him.

Finally, her fist hit the door to knock. After a few second delay, the door opened by itself. Mina turned to Kai.

"Go on." he told her. "I'll be right here if you need me."

Mina looked at him uncertainly, but she did enter the house alone eventually. The door slowly closed behind her as she looked up at the winding staircase going up.

"Why do towers have long winding staircases?" Mina groaned before beginning to trudge up the stairs. The falcon flew quickly toward her and she ducked so it didn't hit her right in the face. But it landed on her shoulder as if she was its master. Mina straightened up and looked at the bird on her shoulder.

"You look more like a crow close up than what you did earlier." she told it. "Are you here to guide me like a spirit animal or familiar or something?"

The falcon looked at her in a rather assuring way, although there was no real way the bird could really give any emotion. Maybe Mina had just begun to imagine things now.

"Or... company." Mina slowly added. The falcon stared down at her, she imagined this as a 'why else?' response.

"Thank you." she then told the bird before continuing onward.


	7. Together

Lloyd paced back and forth in his room in anxiety. She was coming. Any moment that girl was going to come through his door. First impressions where everything; how was it he going to reveal himself? Should he do a chair reveal like in those old mafia movies, or go more traditional by turning around slowly as she opened the door. He finally decided that he would simply stand, and give a 'I've been waiting for you for some time' sort of speech. But when the door actually opened and they looked at each other for the first time, no words could come out of his mouth.

Mina slowly opened the door to find herself looking at the same man from the hologram message. His eyes had dark bags under them, something she did not noticed on the hologram, and he looked... broken. She stared at him, and he stared back at her. Although they did nothing, a connection was made between the two. A connection that should have been made years ago but today was the day it happened. It was beautiful, and it created itself just by the two looking at each other for the first time. It was destiny.

"Are you... are you really my... my dad?" Mina slowly said, being the first to talk. The only way Lloyd could respond was by nodding his head. Mina looked at him again, no other words or questions coming out. But there were just so many... how much time did they have again?

"Kai... Kai was right..." Mina then said, softly and slowly, "Can I... can I give you a hug?"

Lloyd did not move, still frozen in his spot. Without any instruction, Mina slowly walked over then gave Lloyd a tight (and very needed) hug. Mina cried as she held onto him and refused to lot go. She wasn't going to let go, not anymore.

. . .

Lloyd's welcome home party was one of the biggest parties Ninjago has ever seen. It had been years since anyone had seen him, and although he was almost public enemy number one because of the damage he caused, he was still loved.

"So do you believe me now?" Kai asked Mina during the party.

"Yeah..." Mina agreed.

"So say it." Kai told her snuggly.

"I won't!" Mina told him playfully.

"Do it, I know you want to!" he responded teasingly. Mina gave a pretend huff.

"You were right and I was wrong." she said. Kai ruffled her hair a little.

"Just the way it was intended." he joked.

"Don't worry though," Mina then told him as she fixed her hair, "You'll always be my first daddy."

"I wasn't your dad." Kai then told her, his face growing very serious.

"That's not what my teachers kept saying, now is it?" Mina retorted with a sly smile. Kai rolled his eyes, but was still joking with her in some way or another.

"Love you!" Mina said happily before giving Kai a little kiss on the cheek and leaving. Kai watched her and she skipped away. He shook is head in disbelief and a form of pride that only parents should have.

She had been right too, he did love her. And right now, he wondered if it really could have true love, because, honestly, he didn't want her to leave him.


	8. Two & Three

**Part Two**

* * *

"It is time, sister." a male white Serpentine hissed in a scratchy voice.

"The two extremes have finally met?" a female purple Serpentine asked, her voice not sounding as distorted as the male's.

"Yes, the Overlord is very pleased." the male Serpentine agreed.

"What do we need to do, brother, for us to snuff out the Light?" the female Serpentine asked. The male Serpentine looked at his sister and smiled.

"Just follow my lead Mamba." the male told her.

"Naturally, Pythor." the female agreed with a sneer.

. . .

Mina was amazed at the awesome things she could do when she knew she was in control of everything she did. She was her own light show and set designer. It felt awesome. She danced more now too, it was because her powers gave her a wonderful feeling that when combined with dancing made her feel alive.

With Lloyd's return, everyone wanted his attention. Apparently, he had been very popular before he left, and no one had realized how much they missed him until he had come back. The father and daughter duo were never together for long before someone made them seperate from each other again. By the end of the day they were together again, and that was all that mattered.

Trouble was brewing though in their newfound world, the Overlord was creeping upon the land again. It had been years since he had shown himself in Ninjago City, but now was the time he planned to appear again. You see, Ninjago was founded in the Light. But the Overlord had created the land to be covered in Darkness. Lloyd's grandfather, the First Golden Dragon, had made a deal with the Overlord so that he could only have domain over a small portian of Ninjago. But the Overlord was not satisfied. He wanted all of Ninjago to be covered in Darkness. But the Overlord waited and planned for the day when he could take control over the land. That day was today, and he wasn't going to lose...

…

"So, your pop is the Golden Ninja?" a kid named Kass asked Mina during lunchtime at school. Kass was a cousin of Cole's, and they looked a lot alike.

"I guess so." Mina agreed. "I don't care though, I'm just glad to have a real dad now."

"But the Golden Ninja is the greatest being in the universe," Kass continued.

"Yeah, so?" Mina asked, not seeing his point.

"Well, according to the lack of history they teach us, you also have power not yet seen in the world."

Mina looked at him, still not sure where he was going with this.

"What do you think will happen if you two ever got into a big fight?" Kass asked her.

"Nothing." Mina said, now beginning to feel confused. Kass looked at her like she had said something really ridiculous.

"Are you failing science class?"

"I know you are." she told him. He rolled his eyes.

"When two powers of equal forces go against each other, the force that comes off of it will be equal and opposite to the original forces."

Mina just looked at him. Kass rolled his eyes again and gave an audiable groan.

"If you two ever got into a major fight with katanas and tessen and all that stuff, you would set off armageddeon!" Kass told her, trying all in his power not to completely out and out yell at her.

"That'll never happen." Mina laughed. "Lloyd would never hurt me."

"The story isn't over, now is it?" Kass asked her as the lunch period bell rang, signalling the period was over.

Before she could answer him, he got up and left without another word.


	9. Smiles Grow Strange

The Falcon became one of Mina's best friends, although it was closer to Stockholm syndrome because the thing never really left her. The droid family Mina had encountered had known Lloyd, or at least, Zane and PIXEL had before. So when Lloyd came back, the droids moved closer to the city. Which meant that Alice became a new friend of Mina's as well. Then there was Kass, who wasn't really a new adversary, but since Cole was seeing Lloyd often, that meant that Mina saw Kass often too.

Today, Kass was getting ready to with Cole to see Lloyd and Mina. Nothing stopped him from cocking an attitude while doing so. Unknown to him, the Overlord was attracted to this attitude and negative energy. In a mist-like form, the Overlord snuck his way over to Kass. Sensing something was off, Kass looked around the room.

"Who's there?" he asked. He saw nothing, until a mist formed in front of him to shape a dragon-like human being. Kass jumped back in surprise and shock.

"Who are you?!" Kass asked in surprise. The dragon-man looked at Kass and smiled maliciously.

"You know the Gold Kunoichi." the dragon-man said, licking his lips.

"Who?" Kass asked, starting to feel a little afraid. The dragon-man did not answer, and instead melted into a mist and started toward Kass. Kass tried to run away, but the mist had bound his feet together without using rope. The mist made its way to Kass's mouth and thrust itself inside. The next thing Kass remembered was the world being a blur, then absolute darkness.

. . .

No one was none the wiser as the Overlord controlled Kass's body from the inside. Kass was terrified in reality, but it was only a voice at the back of your head that could be ignored.

"Hello Kass." Mina greeted when she saw him. "Do you feel alright? You look a little funny."

The Overlord possessed Kass looked at her and nodded.

"I am fine." Kass's vocal cords told her. "But I would like to speak to you personally, and alone."

Mina looked at Kass. She knew something was different about him, but she couldn't quite figure out what...

Overhead, the Falcon circled above their heads as if it was waiting for something to happen. As if it knew something Mina didn't...

"Sure, I don't see why not." Mina finally decided. "I trust you."

With a sneer, Kass led Mina outside to a place rather pleasant, where a couple of cherry blossom trees were planted. Mina looked around and enjoyed what she saw.

"This is nice." she said, mostly to herself. Kass laughed, in a rather ruthless way. Mina quickly turned to look at him.

"Something is wrong with you Kass." Mina said, starting to back up a little. "I don't know what..."

Kass chuckled in a way that sent chills up Mina's spine.

"Look how virtue repaid you," he started to say, "You turn and someone betrayed you."

Suddenly, two Serpentine appeared next to Mina. She looked at them both with fear growing inside of her. One was male with white scales and light purple detailing, the other was female with light purple scales with darker purple detailing.

"But betray her first.." the male said in a raspy tone.

"And the game's reversed." the female said in a low, dangerous tone.

Mina nervously looked from the two Serpentine to Kass.

"You're not Kass." she told him. "Who... who are you?"

Kass laughed in a tone Mina now knew was never Kass's to begin with.

"I came to tuck you into bed." he said in a low tone. The next thing Mina saw was darkness.

With this bit of the deed done, the Overlord took himself out of Kass's body and reformed into a dragon-man once more in front of Mina's body. Kass's body lay on the ground, presummably without life, but he was only unconscious.

"Take her to the Anacondrai tomb." the Overlord ordered the Serpentine. Before the Serpentine could give an audible response, there was a gasp from behind them. The Overlord turned and saw Kai standing there frozen in his spot.

Kai had been sent to see where the kids had gone to, and had seen enough to have actually done something if he wasn't completely surprised.

"And take the hot head." the Overlord added. The white Serpentine slithered over to Kai, gave a malicious smile, and knocked him out.

Satisfied with his plan so far, the Overlord looked up at the sky. The falcon was still flying over head, it was ready to tell of what it had saw, which meant the Overlord could not waste time in taking the hostages. But it was all part of the plan.


	10. Yin

By the time Falcon had shown Lloyd what had happened, the Overlord was too far away to have been stopped. Lloyd was heartbroken that his daughter was taken from him before they had even begun to really know each other. When he found out that Kai had been taken as well, it just crossed the line right there.

"We'll go with you." Zane told Lloyd before he started to head out.

"Thank you, but no." Lloyd told him. His friends looked at him astonished.

"I have a feeling that this is something only I can do." he told them. "So, thank you for helping, but I need to go alone."

With that, Lloyd left with the falcon as his guide.

. . .

Slowly, Mina stirred from whatever comatose state she was in. She was laying on cold ground, and it was dark, wherever she was.

"What a pretty little hatchling, don't you think?" someone said cynically. Slowly, Mina blinked as her vision began to focus again. The female Serpentine from earlier stood near her, Kai was in bondage not that far away from Mina. Mina slowly turned her head to get a good look at Kai. He seemed to be alright, but he was struggling pretty hard.

"Oh, don't bother you fire boy." the Serpentine said carelessly to Kai. "Those ropes restrict your abilities, you can't do anything from there."

Hearing this though, made Kai struggle even harder with a look of determination on his face. The Serpentine sighed and turned her attention back to Mina.

"Hello my little hatchling," the Serpentine said softly, "My name is Mamba, and I like you."

Mina's skin crawled to know that a Serpentine liked her, and had said so in a tone that was less than nice. Mina now noticed that the Serpentine was holding a large stick of bamboo.

"I like you so much," Mamba continued, rather carelessly, "I want to be the one to kill you."

With that, the Serpentine gave Mina's stomach a hard whack with the bamboo stick. Mina let out a yelp in pain. From where he was bound, Kai struggled even harder, the look of fear and hatred shown in his eyes like flames from a fire.

"Not that hitting you is going to help things progress," Mamba said casually, taking a hard whack at Mina's ribs, "I've already poisoned you with pure venom straight from the Great Devourer's fangs. Soon, Darkness with overtake you, and the Overlord will be able to control you any way he wants!"

"Lloyd... will stop..." Mina tried to say, finding it hard to speak. Mamba hit the girl again, this time hard enough to invoke internal damage. Kai struggled even harder now, somehow in the process, untying a portion of the rope that bound him.

"Oh silly, silly hatchling, don't you understand?" Mamba asked, whacking Mina again. "When the Overlord takes hold of your body, he will make you and the Golden Ninja go to battle. The force of two extremes fighting will set off the balance between Light and Darkness and the winner will have dominance over the other!"

Kai finally broke out of his bonds after struggling for so long, and fell on his face in surprise. He quickly recovered and stood up to face Mamba.

"What makes you think that Light will give in to Darkness?" he shouted as loud as he could, out of breath from working his way out of the rope. "Without Light, you can not have Darkness. Shadows only appear when there is Light. Darkness needs to be subordinate to Light for a reason!"

Mamba growled at Kai, and started to hold the bamboo stick like a sword.

"Enough!" someone said from the door way. Everyone looked toward the source of the voice. It was the Overlord in his half dragon, half human form. He had a Nindroid with him, much to Kai and Mina's discomfort.

The Overlord looked over Mina's crumpled up body as she tried to sneer at him. The Overlord only snickered at her, lifted his hand and she flew across the room. She smacked the opposite wall with great force. She cried in pain. If it hadn't hurt earlier, it really hurt now.

"Leave her alone!" Kai shouted as Mamba held him from behind.

"No..." the Overlord said, melting into his mist cloud form, "This is part of the plan..."

With that said, the Overlord slowly moved toward Mina, then violently thrust himself down her throat.

"No!" Kai shouted in horror with his eyes widening, as Mina started to howl in even greater pain. In the shadows, the Nindriod started to type out a news bulletin of Mina's soon death. Knowing she could die if the Overlord took over her in the state she was in, Kai got out of Mamba's grasp and ran to her.

"Stay with me," he told her, beginning to cradle her like he did when she was a baby. "It's going to be alright. Don't let the Darkness take over, there is great Light in you. You hear me kid? Keep your Light!"

Mina's face crumpled in pain as the Overlord internally made the Light inside her dim. She held on to Kai with all her strength, a physical portrayal of how she was trying to keep the Light in her from going out.

"You can do it," Kai kept saying, holding her tight in hope that the Light inside him would help hers, "Keep your Light until Lloyd gets here..."

Slowly, the pain on Mina's face dimmed a little as the Overlord found he could not take all of her Light away. A piece of her mind that still belonged to her, and she was guarding it with lock and swallowed key. The Overlord may have been in her body, but she wasn't going to die. She wasn't going to give up. She wasn't going to let go of the Light inside her.

Nearby, the Nindriod set off a little beep, indicating that it had sent out the news bulletin. With its duty done, it left without another word. Soon all of Ninjago would believe that Mina had died.


	11. Yang

Lloyd was making rather decent progress as the Falcon guided him to the Anacondrai tomb in the desert. The bulletin on the death of Mina reached him when he was half way to his destination. He did not cry though, it only made him more determined. Even if she was gone from him, Kai was still alive. Wasn't he? Then they could bury her together, and Lloyd would let Kai tell him all of the stories of Mina's life, no matter how bad it made Lloyd feel.

But what if it was a lie? What if this is what the enemy wanted to do so Lloyd would come?

Well then, he would fight for his daughter. He won't let her go. He would protect her. He won't let anything happen to her. He loved her. Wasn't that enough to defeat even the most evil of villains?

In his thinkings, he was disrupted by the sudden appearance of Pythor. Lloyd sneered at him.

"What do you want?" Lloyd asked, not in the mood to deal with the Serpentine today.

"Is that anything to say to an old friend?" the white scaled Serpentine asked with a smile.

"Friends don't let their friends be upset." Lloyd said. "Friends don't let their friends destroy an entire city in rage. Friends don't let friend leave, or discourage them, or make them believe it was all their fault when there was nothing they could have done to stop what happened!"

"But it felt _good_, didn't it? Getting your way and all." Pythor asked, still smiling.

"It wasn't worth the sixteen years of seclusion." Lloyd interjected.

"Was it only sixteen years?" Pythor asked, starting to act as if they were simply discussing the weather and they were still on good terms.

"What do you want Pythor?" Lloyd asked, starting to grow impatient. "If you haven't noticed, I have somewhere to be right now."

"Can't we just talk?" Pythor asked, attempting to smile kindly a bit but it came out as a sneer. "You haven't even commented on how I got my scales done."

Lloyd looked at Pythor. He wasn't really that interested. Mina needed his help, now. After Lloyd had not moved for awhile, Pythor continued.

"You and I were like brothers, we stole candy from babies and loitered in 'no loitering' zones..."

"I was a kid then," Lloyd interjected, "I didn't even find it that fun."

"But you still did it, didn't you?" Pythor asked. Lloyd said nothing, so Pythor continued. "And during all that time, you know what happened? You let Darkness seep into you. Sure, the things I let you do to gain your trust were a bit... childish, but it founded the seed within. Why can't you just let Darkness take over you? It would be the easier option after all."

"There isn't Darkness inside of me." Lloyd muttered. "Go away."

"There is." Pythor said. "You suppress it, but it's there. I know because I've seen you. I saw you destroy an entire city nearly under an hour. You can do great things in the Darkness, why don't you just let it take over?"

"Because I have a daughter!" Lloyd thundered, his anger boiling over quickly. Pythor recoiled.

"A daughter you just now realized you had? A daughter that is dead or severely injured right now? A daughter begging or hoping that her dear father is coming for her soon before she dies a slow and painful death? How does she keep your Light shining brighter than the Darkness?!"

His anger blinding him, Lloyd lunged at Pythor and held in him a choke hold.

"Do it!" Pythor wheezed, even more so than usual from being in the choke hold. "Let the Darkness inside let reign!"

_No._

Lloyd's senses came back to him slowly, allowing his vision to see clearly again.

_Don't do it, she needs you. I can't... My... her Light...  
_

Lloyd blinked as he got off of Pythor. This wasn't the time to do it. Never was the time to do it, really.

"Is your love for her really that strong?" Pythor asked in a low voice. "A teenaged girl you haven't even known for five days, and your love is _that_ powerful?"

"It's called hope." Lloyd said before continuing toward the Anacondrai tomb. Pythor, still on the ground, sneered before disappearing from view.


	12. A Battle of Will

**For your reading pleasure, Lana Del Rey - Once Upon a Dream (Instrumental) as uploaded by Carter Jayan on YouTube has been assigned to and inspired this chapter. Thank you for reading the story for this long! Ideas are always welcome for new chapters and the final ending!  
**

* * *

By now, the Overlord could control any part of Mina's body that he wanted. She could move her eyes freely, however, but the Overlord could see more than she could.

Kai still held Mina close to him. They looked each other in the eye and felt bad for each other. Something inside Kai couldn't take seeing her like this. He raised her from when she was a baby. He had been the closest thing to a father she would ever see for a long time. And yet, he still refused to be called her father, simply because he knew he wasn't. Looking at her now, and thinking back to all the things he could and should have done, he wanted to take it all back. He wanted to singlehandedly rip the Overlord out of her and beat him until he bleed to death. But he couldn't. His Light wasn't strong enough.

Then Lloyd came in. The two gave each other a look, Kai hoped his expression told Lloyd that his daughter was still alive. Lloyd nodded, showing he understood, and softly took Mina into his arms. Kai watched with mixed feelings as the father and daughter exchanged glances. The same hollow, sad eyes that had looked at Kai, looked at Lloyd.

Unknown to Kai, the pain he felt toward Mina was nothing compared to how Lloyd felt. Imagine, living in a world of seclusion, never knowing you had someone to love and could love you back. Then imagine, when you did get to know them, they were all but taken away from you. Their whole being was at the custody of someone (or something) that you could not control. How powerless you feel, how Lloyd felt, knowing that there was little to do at this point.

Inside her own mind, Mina felt rather bitter too. The Overlord could control her body any way she wanted, but she was stopping him.

"Give up." the Overlord told her, taking shape in her imagination as a body surrounded by dark aura. "There is nothing you can do to stop fate."

Mina remained silent. Her form in this battle of wills was her own body surrounded by light aura.

"I know everything about you, I hope you understand." the Overlord told her, attempting to shake her up. "With me in your mind; I know all your secrets, all you thoughts, all your desires. If I wanted, if you let me, we could just pretend everything is fine with the world and no one would ever know your dark secret."

"But you won't... will you?" Mina asked.

The Overlord only chuckled.

"Why do you care if I give my Light away? What do you gain?" Mina asked the Overlord. Again, the Overlord simply laughed at her.

"Oh child, what do you know about anything? I doubt you even understand that in a universe that helped base this one, you don't even exist!"

This news didn't really faze Mina at the moment, but she tucked it away to think about for later.

"For the life of the Golden Dragon," the Overlord droned, "Nothing ever comes easy. Naturally, it makes you an easy target for Darkness. There are two living Golden Dragons in this world, you and the man you call your father. The Golden Ninja and Gold Konoichi. These two extremes were never meant to know or meet each other, ever. But when they do, they will set off a battle that could lead to the end of the world!"

"And what if one side does not want to fight?" Mina asked curiously.

"Give your will over, and I will show you." the Overlord hissed at her softly.

Mina shook her head, showing she did not want to. But the Darkness surrounding them wrapped around her ankles and began to creep up her legs, swallowing the light aura around her body.

"No... no!" Mina cried, feeling the control of the rest of her body slowly sliver away and the Overlord laughed manically somewhere nearby. On the mortal plane, Lloyd and Kai could tell that Mina was losing her battle with the Overlord as her body thrust into unnatural positions. Then suddenly, she was still, and Lloyd set her softly on the ground.

When she opened her eyes, however, Mina was no longer in control of her body at all.


	13. A Very Unlucky Chapter

Kai and Lloyd watched as Mina's body struggled to sit up, like a marionette controlled by an invisible puppet master. A cold, sinister laugh came from Mina's lips, but both Kai and Lloyd understood that it was not really hers.

"Her name..." Mina's voice said in a way Mina herself would have never spoken in, "Have you ever stopped to think of what her name means?"

Instinctively, Kai and Lloyd's bodies tensed in anger.

"What did you do with Mina?!" Kai shouted at the Overlord-controlled Mina, but his comment was ignored.

"Mina, Mina, Minerva, Mina." Mina's voice sing songed as if the name amused the Overlord. "Minerva Mina, wise love..."

Mina's body turned to face Kai and Lloyd with some sense of disability. Mina was still fighting for control.

"Minerva is wise, Mina is love..." Mina's voice continued to sing. "One day these names could be... shall we say? Ironic..."

"Why are you making her suffer like this?" Lloyd asked this time. The Overlord made Mina's body roll into a very uneasy chuckle.

"You..." a low growl came from Mina's lips. "You, you, you... Golden Dragon... divine inheritance..."

"But why Mina!?" Lloyd screamed with rage.

"Light falls to Darkness... Darkness becomes Light... One can not live while the other survives..."

Mina's body rolled into another chuckle.

"Sacrifices must be made..."

Suddenly, Mina's body went into a seizure-like episode.

"Run!" Mina shouted, momentarily in control. "The Overlord has those two Serpentine stationed around here. They're going to trap you and force Lloyd into fighting me!"

Mina's body went into a seizure again.

"Quiet!" the Overlord snarled, using Mina's vocal cords again. "Surprises were meant to be surprises... except for when one spoils it..."

Using it as a cue, Pythor and Mamba appeared next to Mina's slightly jerking body. By instinct, Kai instantly leaped onto Mamba, and Lloyd leaped onto Pythor. Mina's body just looked at the two dueling pairs before beginning to walk away as if nothing was wrong.

"What did you do with Mina?" Kai asked Mamba threateningly, using one hand to hold the Anacondrai's long neck, while the other hand (that had been curled into a fist) looked more like a torch with a furious flame coming from it.

"I did nothing." Mamba hissed. "And I can do nothing."

"What do we need to do to get her back to normal?" Kai asked, not really knowing how desperate his voice sounded.

"Don't kill her." Mamba snickered before disappearing. With her presence lost, Kai looked at the ground in defeat.

Meanwhile, Lloyd and Pythor were in a rather gruesome fist fight, pretty much asking the same questions.

"That's it, let the Darkness take you!" Pythor wheezed at Lloyd. "Your child is filled with Light. Once the Overlord leaves her, and you let the Darkness take over, the battle of chaos and peace will be fully prepared!"

"I won't let the Darkness take me!" Lloyd thundered as he threw raw chunks of ice at Pythor, aimed at any vulnerable body part available.

"That wasn't what your father planned, after his own descent into Darkness." Pythor sneered, using his tail to make Lloyd fall on the ground. "He let the Darkness take over, and the Overlord used him to help bring forward today.  
He wanted the same fate to be passed to you, to help the Overlord fulfill fate. So, why can't your let your dearly beloved father's dying wishes be filled?"

For a moment, Lloyd stayed down; the thoughts of his father made him realize that he wasn't much better as a father either. There wasn't much that separated the two generations either, when thought was put into it. Both fathers left their child early on, both fathers gave in to the Darkness inside of them, both fathers died...

"No." Lloyd decided, "I won't give in to the Darkness like my father did. Darkness destroyed my father, and it will destroy me too if I try to 'follow in his footsteps'." Lloyd looked up at Pythor. "My father may have been wrong to let the Darkness take over him, but I can still learn from his example. I will _not_ let Darkness take over me, ever!"

Pythor seemed taken aback by this.

"She will die, no matter what you do." the Serpentine said quietly before fading from view. Lloyd felt numb at what Pythor had said as Kai helped him up.

"Are you alright?" Kai asked, genuinely concerned.

"Why do you care?" Lloyd snapped. "You were never her father! You wouldn't know how it would hurt for her to die..."

"I was every much a father in all but name." Kai told Lloyd, all emotion gone from his voice and face. "The only thing you have done is bring her into the world in an incident you don't even remember. I know what it is like to lose a father, just like you. If you think you'd be the only fool to know Mina could die through action and inaction; if you think you'd be the only one crying at her funeral, you'd be a complete and absolute idiot."

Lloyd looked at Kai, not quite sure what to say.

"The question we should be asking is how to get that demon out of her." Kai then said. "_Without_ killing her in the process."

Lloyd nodded. Rational thought was good, even better knowing Kai had some. Right now, Lloyd just wanted revenge. Very, _very_ bloody revenge.


	14. Infected Dreams, Ruined Life

Mina laid on a small cot as she rested. The Overlord left her body for some reason he did not disclose to her, as Mamba sat by Mina's side. The more Mina spent alone with the Serpentine, the more she understood that Mamba was near insane.

"What a lovely little hatchling." Mamba said contently as she dabbed a damp cloth on Mina's head like a nurse. "I don't believe you'll be the one that dies in the arena. But my brother feels different, but then again, we have more arguments than agreements. Always have, it's rather tragic considering we are the last of our species..."

Exhausted, and barely running on minimum, Mina looked at Mamba. She wanted to say something, but was too exhausted and laid back again with a new band of sweat around her forehead.

"Poor little hatchling..." Mamba cooed, gently removing the beads of sweat. "Your Light is strong, but your body is immature and weak. Now you know why Pythor believes you will not win the fight... Unlike my brother, I have a firm belief in 'what does not kill us makes us stronger' and with the Overlord entering and exiting your body, it will give you a more physical advantage in the end."

Too tired to even bother keeping her eyes open, Mina drifted into a pained sleep.

. . .

A temple of light. What an amazing place to be in, Mina admired in thought, the history of the world around me and no one around to judge.

She danced, around and around in a circle. Four pillars outlined her dancing circle; fire, earth, lightning, and ice. A large bell hung high above her head that filled the room with softly playing music. Mina kept dancing in a circle, nothing was stopping her, not even exhaustion or hurting joints. It was an unending circle, an unbroken circle, and it made her happy.

But there was an air of danger lurking. The sky outside of the temple was growing dark as the lights inside the temple itself seemed to grow brighter. Thunder began to rumble in the distance. Mina's dance was not interrupted however, but it had seemed to have gotten more wild and erratic. Even the music from the bell was not longer playing soft music, instead, it was a message Mina couldn't make out. She understood it was a warning, but a warning for what?

Existing in the middle of the circle, directly under the bell, a figure that wasn't there before watched as Mina continued to dance around, trying at the same time to strain her ears to understand what the bell's message was. From where he stood, the figure watched as Mina danced. Slowly, he lifted his arm and directed it toward Mina. Out of no where, Mina flew from the circle and began to fall into a dark and bottomless pit, her screams were silent as she continued to fall further and further down until...

. . .

Almost like rigor mortis, Mina sat straight up on the cot and looked around frantically. A dream, it had only been a dream. In the back of her mind, the silent laughter of the Overlord echoed as if the entire dream had been a bad party joke. After the sort adrenaline rush left Mina's body, pure exhaustion came crashing down again like bricks piled on her head. She wanted to go home. She didn't want to find Lloyd. She wanted to sleep and actually feel rested, not more exhausted than before.

If it was to any consideration; she wanted to die.


	15. Fight or Flight

"Lloyd."

"Yeah?"

"I thought we agreed that getting caught wasn't part of the plan?"

"We did."

"Then, please, refresh my memory on why we got caught."

Well, whatever had happened, they were now in a jail cell. They had done pretty well to actually get in, but Lloyd had gotten to anxious and let their plan go down the drain quickly. Pythor was their guard, and he had told them to wait silently. Not that they were doing that very well. Kai was rather (justifiably) angry at Lloyd at the moment.

The door to the jail threw open as a shadowed figure stepped through. Pythor stood tall and waited for the figure to walk over. When the figure was closer, it was easy to tell that it was Mina, but the slight jerking and twitching of her body made it clear the Overlord had once again possessed her. Both Lloyd and Kai sneered at the sight.

"Are you ready to die?" Mina's voice darkly asked Lloyd.

"I won't fight her Overlord!" he responded. Mina's body produced something akin to a shrug.

"Who said anything about fight now? Naturally, you need to go through a teeny, tiny little test."

"What test?" Kai asked.

"You are not taking it!" Mina's voice snapped at him. "Tests are for the test takers, and you are not a test taker today."

"What are you going to do?" Lloyd then asked. Mina's mouth sneered in an uneasy and haunting half smile. Carefully, her body held up a staff with a snake head on it and handed it to Pythor.

"Dreams reveal inner thoughts... inner desires... inner weakness..." Mina's voice said darkly as Pythor opened the jail and walked to Lloyd. "The Gold Kunoichi has already had her dream and prevailed, but will her own father...?"

With that, Pythor held the staff up to Lloyd's face and something in a mist sprayed him. The world then dimmed to darkness as a cry from Kai went unrecognizable.

. . .

Lloyd opened his eyes and looked around. He was in a playground with only two occupants. Upon further inspection, he saw that it was Kai and Mina. But there were a few differences, Mina was shorter and Kai's hair had more color to it. If sepia tone could be added, Lloyd would have been right to assume that it was a memory. But who's?

Cautiously, Lloyd stepped closer to the duo as Mina ran around the playground with Kai not far behind, pretending not to be amused by the little girl's antics.

"Come on Kai!" Mina said happily as she ran to the slide.

"I'm coming." Kai told her, taking his sweet time with it. It wasn't noticeable at first, but upon closer inspection, Lloyd noticed that Mina had left ice tracks from where she had stepped. This was why Kai was distancing himself away from her; she couldn't control her abilities.

Lloyd watched as the tiny kid made an effort to help herself up the slide, the go down the slide at quick speeds, and leaving a trail of ice behind her. This didn't stop the kid for a second though, and she ran to the see-saw.

"Come on Kai," she said enthusiastic, "Come play with me!"

Kai grimaced at the thought.

"How about we get some ice cream? It's hot today, it'll be my treat."

Little Mina squealed in delight and ran over to him. As with any child, Mina tried to slip her hand into Kai's, but like an autistic, Kai refused her touch. This confused the young girl, but she understood to some degree, and kept her hands behind her back as the two walked away. Lloyd watched on, beginning to grow bitter. If that had been him, he would have let her hold his hand.

_You have regrets, don't you Gold Ninja?_

The idea was odd, but it was accepted in a way Lloyd couldn't describe.

_What do you regret the most?_

Not being there. Not seeing her grow. Not warning her...

_What else?_

He stole her... He never told her about him. He had to have known...

_And what do you plan on doing about it?_

Fight.

. . .

Lloyd's vision returned to the real world to find that he was now in a large arena. Mina stood opposite of him, looking as if she was sick. The Overlord had left her body only moments ago, and her body's resistance to his constant presence had gotten stronger. But it still left her physically drained, if not mentally.

The Overlord in a mist glided to the center of the arena between Lloyd and Mina, then melted into his half dragon - half human form.

"The time to fight is now!" the Overlord declared.

"Pure Light..." he said, directing attention to Mina.

"Pure Darkness..." he added, direction attention to Lloyd.

"Let the fight for Balance begin." he concluded, melting back into a mist before leaving the arena. In thin air, Lloyd was given dual katanas, to which he drew immediately. Mina had no weapons, and looked on wearily at Lloyd.

"Please... no..." she said, sounding as exhausted as she looked.

"I'm sorry." Lloyd said in a low tone before taking a strike.


	16. Light Becomes Darkness

For a moment, Mina's defense was delayed, but when she realized Lloyd wasn't going to hesitate, adrenaline flowed through to her head. She lifted her arm quickly, the earth beneath her lifted above and out of reach from Lloyd like a pedestal. Fearfully, Mina looked down at Lloyd, and he looked up at her. Something in his eyes was unrecognizable to her, and it made her terrified.

"Giving up already?" the Overlord asked from somewhere out of sight. "The Golden Dragon has always been a pacifist..."

"I won't do this!" Mina said to the air. "This isn't right, there may be a battle of Light and Darkness, but it was not meant to be today!"

"According to who?" the Overlord disembodied voice asked. To this, Mina did not have an answer. She looked down at Lloyd, who's anger was raging so hard that he was blindly slashing the dual katana blades into the rock pillar.

"Light falls to Darkness..." Mina said, almost to herself. "But Darkness can become Light. The Light that survives Darkness is the brightest Light of them all."

"What are you doing?" the Overlord's voice asked, sounding a bit panicked over pure anger. Mina was calm as she uses her hand to mimic the motion of lowering something, and the pillar of earth did so slowly. When she was at eye level again with Lloyd, she smiled at him, accepting what had to happen. Still blinded, Lloyd struck Mina in the heart, instantly killing her. She was still smiling as she hit the ground, perfectly at peace.

Then the arena slowly started to become engulfed in dark light. It ate away at everything that was in the arena, revealing a spot where Kai had been, watching the entire thing against his will. Lloyd's clear thinking returned to him as sudden realization of the current events hit him. Kai ran to Mina's side and checked for a pulse, although everyone already knew the truth of the matter.

The Overlord in mist form made himself known, revealing himself between the grieving Kai over Mina's body and the just barely aware Lloyd. The Overlord cried into the still air with victory in his voice;

"It is finished!"


End file.
